Chinese brands account for nearly a third of Russia’s auto market, data obtained by Reuters shows, with the sector more than any other demonstrating China’s growing importance to the Russian economy following the exodus of Western companies, Reuters reported.

Sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) fell nearly 61% from a year ago as Western sanctions limit Russia’s access to some materials and falling demand and high prices further hamper the sector’s growth.

But sales of Chinese cars including Haval, Chery and Geely rose to 16,138 units in November, almost double from January’s 8,235, while market share rose to 31.3% from 9.6%, data from Russian analytics agency Avtostat showed “.

Russia sold 46,403 cars and new passenger cars in November, with sales expected to reach around 600,000 this year, the Association of European Enterprises (AEB) said on Tuesday.

“There is little production of Western car brands and few imports, so the market is divided between the Russian and Chinese auto industry,” says Russian analyst Volodymyr Bespalov.

Russian cars meet the demand at lower prices – up to about 1.5 million rubles ($23,961), and Chinese cars also occupy the western niche of prices above 2.5 million rubles.

In a known case, a Chinese car becomes a Russian one. Engine parts supplied by China’s JAC, whose design, engineering and platform were used to revive the Soviet-era Moskvich, were on display at the brand’s relaunch last month.

“Moskvich” reported that it was working with a foreign partner, but did not say with which one. JAC did not respond to a request for comment.

Most Western automakers, which have been battling domestic automakers for market share since they began building factories in Russia in the early 2000s, have shut down after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February.

The “Moskvich” car is produced at a plant that was transferred to the French manufacturer Renault, and among others that left Russia, left Nissan, Mercedes and Ford.

According to Bespalov, if the economic situation remains unchanged, Chinese manufacturers, including Moskvich, could reach about 35% of sales in Russia next year, assuming the market returns to 800,000 units.

In monetary terms, the share may exceed 40% of the expected market of 1.5 trillion rubles in 2023.

China’s sales volumes in Russia are small compared to the domestic market, where in November they were about 35 times higher than in Russia.

In the first 10 months of the year, Russia was the sixth-largest export destination for Chinese auto products, which include vehicles and parts, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, with a share of 3.9 percent, virtually unchanged from the same period last year. .

(source: news.ro)